---
title: "Trail Maintainer Handbook for Natural Areas in NYC"
slug: "trail-maintainer-handbook-nyc"
updated: 2024-10-29T16:58:11Z
published: 2024-10-29T16:58:11Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://fic.naturalareasnyc.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Trail Maintainer Handbook for Natural Areas in NYC

New York City is home to more than 20,000 acres of natural areas—forests, wetlands, and grasslands—and 10,000 of those acres are in city parks. Within NYC Parks’ natural areas, there are over 350 miles of formal and informal nature trails. This trail system is spread across approximately 75 parks, and provides unique trail experiences within each park. In 2017, NYC Parks and the Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC) formed the Citywide Trails team to formalize the vast network of nature trails in all five boroughs. Formalization efforts ensure that trails are navigable, accessible, and that they contribute to the overall health of the forests and wetlands. This guide provides guidance to volunteer trail maintainers before they head out into NYC's natural areas to care for trails.

### In a nutshell, this resource offers:

- Checklists of gear and tools needed to maintain trails.
- Safety info for trail maintainers, especially related to heat and hazardous conditions.
- Definitions for common trail terminology and some plant identification tips.
- Some forms commonly used by volunteer trail maintainers and an emergency response form.

### How to use this resource:

- As an example of how to structure a volunteer engagement program in urban forested natural areas.

**Author:**Natural Areas Conservancy

**Date published:**2022

**P****oint of contact:** Josh Otero, Trails Program Manager, Natural Areas Conservancy, josh.otero@naturalareasnyc.org

**Citation:** 2022. *Natural Areas Conservancy Trail Maintainer Handbook*. Natural Areas Conservancy, New York, NY.

[PDF document](https://cdn.document360.io/18a9acd7-787d-47fa-9b54-01592bb1d507/Images/Documentation/Trail%20Maintainer%20Handbook.pdf)

## Related

- [New York City Strategic Trails Plan](/nyc-strategic-trails-plan.md)
- [Green Seattle Partnership Forest Steward Field Guide](/forest-steward-field-guide-green-seattle-partnership.md)
- [Engaging New York City Volunteer Stewards Through Shifting Forest Management Goals](/engaging-new-york-city-volunteer-stewards-forest-management-goals.md)
- [Forest Patch First Aid: A Guide for Volunteer Forest Stewardship in Baltimore](/forest-patch-first-aid-baltimore.md)